Australia’s Reputation Still Poor in India

A kangaroo stood on iron ore rocks in western Australia, April 19, 2011.

Four years after a series of high profile attacks on Indian students in Australia, the country has failed to significantly improve its damaged reputation in India, a new study shows.

An opinion poll conducted by an Australian think tank found that 62% of Indians surveyed said that Australia remained a dangerous place for Indian students. Only over half of them (53%) believe that Australia is safer now than a few years ago, when the attacks took place.

Carried out by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, the research is based on a representative sample of 1,233 people in India.

Although 42% of respondents rated Australia as a “very good” place to be educated, the study, released Wednesday, says “some concerns linger about the experiences of Indian students.”

The study reveals that Australia’s image has improved only marginally in India, despite a concerted public relations campaign by the Australian government.

The poll found that the majority (61%) of those questioned about the attacks on students blamed them on racism.

At the time, the spate of violence against Indian students sparked outrage in New Delhi and protests around the country.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the crimes as racist in nature. But Australian officials argued they were opportunistic rather than racially motivated incidents. Studies produced in Australia suggested that the violence against Indian students “should not be interpreted as evidence of racism.”

After the incidents, the number of Indian students applying to study in Australia plummeted. Between the academic year that ended in 2008 and in 2012, the number of Indians going to study in Australia has dropped 71%, according to the Australian Council for Educational Research, a non-governmental organization.

There has been a recent small yearly uptick in admissions but nothing near enough to make up for the losses. The number of Indian students starting to study in Australian universities in 2012 was 2,682 – an increase of 27% on the previous year’s intake, according to the latest figures available from the High Commission of India in Australia.

Australia has sought to attract more students from India, who contribute valuable foreign fees.

Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr, put a positive spin to the findings: “It is gratifying to see positive results of Indian feelings towards Australia, Indian judgments of the quality of Australia’s education system, and Indian views on working with Australia in our shared neighbourhood.”

But some Australian newspaper columnists pointed out that the country’s reputation remains bruised.

Mike Wade, a former Delhi correspondent and senior writer at the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote that the survey showed Indians were “negative” about the safety of their citizens in Australia.

“Indians are not convinced Australia is a safe and welcoming place for them,” he wrote.

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